Gone….Nothing was left. Everything he had worked so hard for was gone, just gone. The computers, weapons, everything; destroyed, beyond repair. Everyone was speechless as they looked around, it all seemed unbelievable. This couldn't be happening; it only seemed like yesterday they were all in here and everything was fine, in its place, perfect. But now, now nothing looked the same. The computer screens were shattered, keyboards and controls lay on the ground broken in hundreds of pieces. It looked as if a tornado had run right through, wiping everything out in an instant.

Eric frantically looked around, shouting out, "Hayley!" but there was no answer. She wasn't here, but she had been here. Eric turned to Tommy and angrily grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, completely forgetting about Tommy's injuries. "Where the hell is she!" He had never been so frightened in all of his life. The woman he had come to love was missing in action.

"He has her," Tommy sighed. "Zeltrax has her." He bowed his head down. Once again Zeltrax had succeeded in taking away someone he cared very much about. His one true friend, who had stuck by him, even after he had left her without even a goodbye.

"You are quite right, Tommy. I do have her." Everyone looked around, seeing where the voice was coming from, but all any of them could see was a holograph of Zeltrax sitting in the middle of the room. "And if you wish for her to keep her life, you know where to find me. It's the same place where this all started. You remember."

Tommy's eyes widened with anger. This was the last straw; this time he had to finish Zeltrax once and for all. It seemed that his long ago friend Smitty truly was dead.

"Oh, and by the way, you all have less than sixty seconds before this place goes up in smoke!" The holographic image disappeared.

"Did he just say what I thought he said?" asked Ethan, his eyes widening with fear.

"Everyone, move now!" yelled Alex, taking charge. One by one they ran up the stairs, flying out the front door as fast as they could. Within seconds Tommy's home exploded, pieces of Tommy's house went everywhere, as the rangers took cover behind Tommy's jeep and Conner's car.

Not only had he lost all his hard work, but possibly a friend and now his home. Today what should have been a victory had turned into loss. Tommy sighed heavily, watching as his home burned to the ground. It seemed that Zeltrax had won this round, but he was not going to win the war. Tommy would not let Zeltrax take Hayley from him, he would get her back, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

Once the smoke cleared and the fire was starting to die down everyone stood up, all still in shock. It seemed only minutes ago since they defeated Mesogog at the cost of Janixsaur, and now this.

"Man," sighed Conner. This all seemed like just a bad dream, but this was no dream. This was really happening.

"Dr. O, I'm so sorry," said Kira softly. Her friend, mentor and teacher had just lost his home.

"Don't worry about it. I have more important things to be worry about than my house." Tommy ripped off a piece of his shirt and tied it around his ankle where it was still bleeding.

"You?" Eric turned to Tommy. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm going after him. I'll get Hayley back for you." He started to head towards his truck. "All of you should head to Wes's father's place."

Wes and Jen looked at each other and then back to Tommy, looking as if he were crazy to be going chasing after Zeltrax in his condition.

"The hell you are!' Eric grabbed Tommy by the shoulder, forcing him to be face to face with him. "If anyone is going to rescue Hayley from that monster, it's going to be me. She's my girlfriend!"

He pushed Eric off of him. "And that exactly why you're not coming." Tommy took a deep breath. "Look, it's me he wants. That's the only reason he took Hayley, it would be no different if he had taken one of you." He looked Eric hard in the eyes.

Eric was struggling; he hated the fact that there was nothing he could do. He knew deep down that Tommy was right. Zeltrax's battle had always been with Tommy, and he would have used any one of them to get to him, Hayley just happened to be the one he got his hands on first. "All right. But you have to swear you'll bring her back. That she's going to be okay."

"You have my word. I swear on my life. I won't let anything happen to her." Tommy sighed, understanding Eric's pain.

Everyone was silent, not knowing what to say or how to make this situation any better. With nothing left to say, Tommy got into his jeep, driving off without even a goodbye.

They all stood and watched as he disappeared down the road, wondering if they would ever see him alive again.

"He's going to beat this guy, right?" asked Conner, turning around to look at the older four rangers, wanting answers, some hope; but no one answered, all was silent. And all eyes were still looking out in the distance towards the road where you could no longer see the black jeep, only the tire tracks and nothing more. Once again the future seemed unknown. And everyone had to wonder, would the great Tommy Oliver defeat death once again or would today be the day he would fall?

Conner stepped forward a few feet, sighing. "He has to." Over this past school year Conner had come to look up to Tommy, trust him. Tommy had always believed in him, even when he didn't believe in himself.

He couldn't believe this was happening. This was his fault. It always was his fault; he began to regret ever getting Hayley involved in this whole situation. If he hadn't called her, hadn't asked her for her help…then….maybe, she'd be okay, be safe. "I'm sorry Hayley."

The jeep sped past several other cars, making it known that it was determined to get to its destination. Tommy opened the glove compartment, taking out a map and looking it over; as he unfolded it a photo fell onto his lap. He pulled over to the side of the road to get a better look at the map.

"Okay, I cut around there and I should be there before nightfall." He moved the map to the passenger side seat and started to pull back onto the road when his eyes fell onto the photo. "Smitty," Tommy sighed.

The photo had been taken at the deserted gas station the two had stopped at on their road trip. They had gotten separated from the others and had stopped at the gas station for directions and a map, and had taken a photo to laugh about it later. That was back before everything had happened, before Mercer's offer, before the fight between them and before he watched Smitty fall to his doom, to wherever or whatever turned him into Zeltrax. Tommy stuffed the old photo in his shirt pocket and started back on his drive, with the knowledge that he might have to sacrifice one friend to save another.

"Man, this bites," muttered Conner as he slumped down on the couch next to Ethan, Kira and Trent. "I hate having to wait around." he crossed his arms against his chest. He was upset and concerned. He had no idea what was going to happen. What would be the end result? Would Hayley be okay? Would Zeltrax be finished off once and for all and would Dr. O come back in one piece? If there was one thing Conner lacked, that was patience, and it looked as if Eric was about to lose his too.

It seemed like forever had passed, but it only had been a few minutes since they've arrived here. Minutes seemed like countless hours; they went on forever. His mind only on her, hoping that she was okay and unharmed. He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her. Is this what love felt like? So many times he had said to himself that Wes was crazy to be in love, especially with someone he could never truly be with. Eric tuned around and found everyone staring at him, like he was some sick child, but they never said anything, but he had a pretty good idea what they were thinking. And at that moment he didn't want their pity. Fed up and frustrated, Eric took off outside, needing to get away from everyone, to have a moment or two alone to himself.

"Wes, maybe you should go check on him. See if he's all right."

Wes nodded his head. "Yeah, you're probably right." He kissed her gently on the cheek and started to head towards the door, when Jen's legs gave way. Wes quickly dove and caught her before she fell. "Jen. Are you okay?" His eyes were full of concern.

The teens on the couch felt their hearts beating fast, as if things were bad already.

"I'm fine. Just felt a bit dizzy is all. I guess I'm a little tired from the battle," she answered softly. "But go on, talk to Eric. I'll be okay." When he didn't make any move to move away from her, "Wes, really, I'm okay."

Alex stepped forward. "Go on, Wes, I'll take Jen up to your room."

Wes turned to Jen. He knew that things between Alex and her hadn't been good lately. The two barely talked or even made eye contact. "Are you okay with that?"

She hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head. 'Yeah. It's fine. You go check up on Eric." She smiled gently.

"All right. I'll come and check up on you in a few." He quickly kissed her and then left to find Eric.

It wasn't long before Alex helped Jen into the room she shared with Wes. He helped her to the bed and then started towards the door.

"Alex…" he stopped but, didn't turn around. "Thanks."

He sighed heavily. "How long?" he asked.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" she asked.

But he knew she was lying. "You know what I'm talking about, Jen." He turned around so he was facing her. "How long have you known?"

She turned her head away, not being able to look him in the eyes. "A few days." She bit her lip.

Alex sighed. He walked over to her and sat down next to her. "Does he know?"

She shook her head. "No. He doesn't know anything."

He ran his hand down his face, feeling as the stakes began to rise. "It needs to stay that way."

"Alex..." Jen turned to him as tears rushed down her face. "I promised him I would marry him."

"You made a promise you couldn't commit to, Jen." He bowed his head down. He hated being the bad guy. "I'm sorry, but you can't stay here, you never could." His heart ached with pain from seeing the tears and pain in her eyes; it was almost too much for him to handle. But he needed to be strong. "Even if I let you stay, Time Force would only send someone back for you and you know what will happen if they do." He looked her deep in the eyes.

Jen sighed heavily, wiping away her tears. She knew very well what would happen and that scared her more than anything, maybe even more than losing Wes forever. "I can't let that happen." She looked into his eyes, searching for some hope. "What am I going to do, Alex?"

He bit his lips. There was one way, but he knew she wouldn't like it, but it was the only way to make sure nothing bad ever happened. "There is a way, but you're not going to like it."

And that was all he had to say, she knew where this was going. "You're right, I don't like it." She bowed her head down, sighing heavily. "What am I going to tell Wes?" She felt her heart aching with wrenching pain that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

He hadn't gone far….

Wes took a deep breath and walked up behind his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You okay?"

"What do you think?" Eric brushed Wes's hand off of him and walked a few feet away and sat down on the curb.

"You're right, bad question to ask," answered Wes as he sat down next to him.

"So this is what it feels like, to love someone."

Wes smiled. He had never thought the day would come when he would hear the word love leave Eric's mouth. It would almost be amusing if the circumstances were different. "Yeah, painful isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"So exactly how'd you two hook up, anyways?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess at first it just started out as talking and then….well, I guess you could say it just happened."

Wes nodded his head. "Hmm. Well, that's something like what I heard."

"What are you talking about?"

Wes got a big grin on his face. "Well, Jen said that Hayley said you were pretty messed up after telling my father about my so-called death, and that you and Hayley really hit it off then." He laughed.

"Wipe that smile off your face, Collins, before I shove it up your ass!"

"Now there's the Eric we know and love."

"Very funny." Eric got up and started to head back towards the house.

"You know he won't let anything happen to her," said Wes as he got up and followed Eric.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I know."